Withholdings is a word that refers to money deducted from an individual's paycheck for taxes, insurance, or other reasons. The spelling of this word can be tricky due to the silent letter "h." The IPA phonetic transcription for withholdings is /wɪθˈhoʊldɪŋz/. The first syllable starts with the consonant sound "w" and the vowel sound "ɪ," followed by the voiceless fricative sound "θ" in the second syllable. The word ends with the voiced velar nasal sound "ŋz," which represents the "-ings" plural suffix.
Withholdings refer to a portion of an individual's income or payment that is retained by an employer or other entity to fulfill specific obligations, such as taxes or debt repayments. It typically applies to deductions made from earnings to comply with legal financial responsibilities.
In the context of employment, withholdings generally pertain to the sum subtracted from an employee's paycheck before it is issued. The most common type of withholding is income tax, wherein the employer deducts a predetermined portion of the employee's wages to fulfill their income tax liability. This withholding system enables the government to collect taxes throughout the year, rather than requiring individuals to pay the entire amount in a lump sum during tax filing season.
Apart from income taxes, other types of withholdings that might be deducted from an employee's salary include contributions to retirement plans, such as 401(k) or pension plans, Social Security payments, Medicare taxes, and health insurance premiums. Additionally, if an individual has outstanding debt, such as student loans or court-ordered payments, withholdings might be made to satisfy these obligations.
Withholding arrangements may vary depending on the jurisdiction, the specific legal requirements of an industry, or an individual's tax status. These withholdings are generally mandatory deductions that employers are responsible for withholding from the employee's paycheck and remitting to the respective agencies or institutions on their behalf.
The word "withholdings" can be broken down into two parts: "withhold" and "ings".
The term "withhold" originated from the Old English word "wiðhaldan", which itself is a combination of "wið" (meaning against or from) and "healdan" (meaning to hold or keep). It has been used since the 13th century and originally meant to hold back, keep back, or restrain something.
The suffix "-ings" is a common English adjectival and nominal suffix that is added to verbs to create nouns indicating actions or results. In the case of "withholdings", it implies the act or process of withholding.
Therefore, the word "withholdings" combines the action of restraining or keeping something back (withhold) with the noun-forming suffix ("-ings") to create a noun that refers to the act or process of withholding something.